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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27540307">Ticklish</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromaticDreams/pseuds/Novantinuum'>Novantinuum (ChromaticDreams)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Brandishing the Star: A Crystal Gem's Guide to the Universe (SU shorts) [27]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Pre-Episode: s06e20 The Future, Teen Romance, and beginning to explore the boundaries of their blossoming relationship, just teens being snoff and cute, steven and amethyst are ultimate siblingcore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:47:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27540307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromaticDreams/pseuds/Novantinuum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Connie’s subconscious, innocent touch helps Steven realize just how nice the sensation of gentle fingertips gliding across the surface of one’s gem can be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Brandishing the Star: A Crystal Gem's Guide to the Universe (SU shorts) [27]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1491011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ticklish</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is set like... a few weeks before Steven leaves Beach City. I imagine he’s been recovering from what happened in <em>I Am My Monster</em> for at least 6 months by this point. </p><p>His days aren’t always great- there’s a lot of ups and downs- but thankfully, today is a markedly pleasant one.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1"><span class="s1">His house is still for once. Impossibly so. No Diamond business, no new arrivals to Earth, no disgruntled Gems kicking down his front door. No more battles, beyond his own internal ones. Admittedly, a part of him is happy for the peace and quiet. He’s appreciative of the way all his family and friends rallied around him in support months back after... erm- after</span> <span class="s1">his breakdown, but every guy needs some space eventually.</span></p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">‘Some space’ never has to mean </span> <span class="s2">alone,</span> <span class="s1"> of course.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Steven sneaks a doe-eyed glance at the girl flopped next to him on the living room couch, her mind lost in the pages of her own fantasy world. It’s a new series, something about a human accidentally falling into the world of the fae. (It’s only been like, half an hour, and she’s almost a hundred pages in already!) A pliable smile teases his lips as he watches her eyes flicker back and forth, digesting each passage with a voracious hunger. Sighing in content, he turns his attention back to his own book, externally making as if he’s busy exploring the world of fiction to hide the sappy fact that instead he’s been thinking about her all along. Honestly? He adores quiet days like these. Even if they’re not doing anything special, it’s just nice to get to spend time alone together. It’s a </span> <em> <span class="s2">comfortable</span> </em> <span class="s1"> together.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Connie shifts, instinctively curling closer, her free arm slung against his side. With a soft hum of content he leans into her welcomed embrace, trying his best (and— caught in her innocently bewitching presence— failing abysmally) to focus on the wandering lines of text.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Everything is peaceful.</span>
</p><p class="p2">No hard knocks, no frenzied phone calls, no family disruptions. The domestic warp hasn’t even activated once this whole lazy afternoon. In recent days, he’s pretty sure that’s a record.</p><p class="p2">At long last, his house is still... and yet in a flash, his hormone riddled teenage mind— ever foolish— is everything but.</p><p class="p2">Because Connie’s touch is tickling him.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s subconscious, almost imperceptible at first. At some point her free hand has roved so that it’s no longer pressed against his side, but against his midriff— which is currently exposed, his shirt bunched up at the waist from all his slouching. Teasingly, her fingertips dance upon the facets of his gem with the pinpoint expertise of a prima ballerina, encoding an endless rhythm directly into the sum of his being, the feather-light contact sending vibrations almost too faint to notice coursing through his hard light veins. But not too faint for him. Not now, not while host to this kind of silence. Not when the girl draped on the couch next to him unknowingly commands every shard of his attention with the slightest twitch of her index finger.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It’s taking all his willpower not to squirm at this ticklish contact right now. It’s so... </span> <em> <span class="s2">weird</span> </em> <span class="s1"> when other people touch his gem. It’s certainly not something he’s used to.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">(Steven promptly buries the memory of the last time someone touched it, refusing to let old terrors tarnish an otherwise pleasurable encounter. He can feel the pink threatening to rise in his cheeks, that instinctual rush of panic he’s grown so numb to over the past months rearing its ugly head. It’s so, </span> <span class="s2">so</span> <span class="s1"> hard to wrestle away from its thrall sometimes, but thankfully his therapist has been teaching him ways to mitigate these sorta reactions. His eyes clamp shut as he breathes deep through his nose and focuses on the tangible, on what he knows: the plump, lumpy cushions of the couch under him, the slight scent of garlic and cumin in the air from the lunch he cooked a few hours ago, the rhythmic crashing of waves outside the house. The warmth of his best friend by his side—)</span></p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">Tap, taptaptap, tap, taptaptap...</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His cheeks bloom a human red as her lulling rhythm continues.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Like he said, it’s obviously subconscious. It has to be, right? It would certainly make sense. From his observations, Connie’s always been a tactile thinker. It’s part of what made her such a quick study in sword fighting. Whenever her mind is alight, those beautiful neurons firing back and forth like a firework display, her body is in motion. Sometimes it’s her foot, tapping impatiently into the dirt as she parses through memory to find the precise words to say. Or it’s like how she memorizes facts for tests easier if she’s jogging, listening to audio recordings of the test materials she made herself. And then there’s times like now, when Connie is reading. When her fingers tap and glide with an almost impish touch across the diamond gemstone in his belly’s center as her eyes— by all appearances entirely disconnected from both her hand’s motion </span> <em> <span class="s2">and</span> </em> <span class="s1"> his reaction— skim effortlessly across the unfolding tale on her page. Her hands... oh, those hands... calloused, warm, digits lithe and curious in their movement. They’re always shifting, always tapping, always twitching to some identifiable rhythm. Is this just another example of her sway towards more kinetic-based thinking? Or... is it something else? A silent yearning that extends its roots from the heart into object reality, innocently unaware of the power of its call?</span></p><p class="p1"><em> <span class="s2">Stars, </span> </em> <span class="s1">Steven thinks, mustering with all his strength to ignore his burning face, </span> <em> <span class="s2">so maybe I’ve been thinking a little </span> <span class="u"><span class="s3">too</span></span> <span class="s2"> much about her lately...</span> </em></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Eventually, it all becomes a bit too overwhelming to handle. If this continues in silence any longer, well... well, heck. He doesn’t even </span> <em> <span class="s2">want</span> </em> <span class="s1"> to imagine what embarrassing things could happen. Mustering up all his courage, he flips his book shut and drops it on the cushion beside him.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, Connie? By the way? That’s kinda ticklish,” he squeaks out, voice high and reedy.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Upon his words, she notices where her fingers are subconsciously tapping and immediately pulls her hand away, her cheeks flushing dark. “Oh, I’m </span> <span class="s2">so</span> <span class="s1"> sorry!” she says, quickly tossing her book aside and shifting upright on the couch. “I didn’t mean to goose ya’! I wasn’t even thinking abo—“</span></p><p class="p2">“No, it’s okay!” he interjects with an open hand. “I’m fine, really, I am. I- it’s not like, uh- It isn’t like a bother, and- well, it just—“</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">Burning up with such a ferocity that he’s about one impulsive decision away from high tailing it out of this fraught social situation and dunking his glowing pink head right into the Atlantic, he forces himself to hush before he says something super stupid and humiliating in front of</span> <span class="s1">his best friend in the whole world that he’ll regret and replay in his dreams forever and ever for the rest of his days.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">Okay, Steven, stop running your mouth like a </span> <strike> <span class="s5">lovesick</span> </strike> <span class="s2"> fool for one second and think. How can you say this in a way that doesn’t sound entirely stupid and/or weird?</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Watching him closely, curiosity written across every vibrant feature, Connie inclines her head ever so slight, a subtle, wordless gesture— one only a Jam Bud could understand— for him to keep going.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The phantom sensation of her fingers tapping against crystal rushes through his nerves like the physical analogue to a bad ear worm. He reaches up to itch at the side of his neck, unable to fully stifle his nervous laughter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Honestly, it uh- it actually felt pretty nice?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What, me touching your gem?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">“Yeah,” he manages to croak out, voice cracking like it hadn’t since he was freshly fifteen.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She isn’t able to fully stifle her giggle at this, pressing her hand tight to her mouth far too late.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">His heart nearly plummets at the sound of her teasing laughter, the constant thrumming of his hard light veins steadily quickening as a flood of energy pulses just below the surface. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, he </span> <em> <span class="s2">knew</span> </em> <span class="s1"> it was far too much after every other recent misstep he’s made in their relationship! Why couldn’t he have just kept his trap shut?</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Aw, geeze,” he says, voice thick and his every muscle ready to bolt, “this is so embarrassing—“</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“No, no! I shouldn’t have laughed, it’s okay!” she jumps in, pressing her hand to his shoulder to help ground him “It’s just bodies, Steven. It’s not weird. It’s just how physical contact works. It’s </span> <em> <span class="s2">supposed</span> </em> <span class="s1"> to feel good, because we’re meant to be social creatures, y’know?”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He hums softly in agreement, taking the offered moment to ease himself down from brink of panic. He focuses intently on the weight of her hand, resting feather-light against him. It’s a small gesture, but a powerful one. More than anything, more than words alone could say, it’s a promise. A reaffirmation, moment by moment. </span> <em> <span class="s2">I’m here. We’re here.</span> </em> <span class="s1"> It’s a truth even the sobering reality of shared trauma can’t hope to erase: that even when the going’s tough, they have each other.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Connie brushes a stray stand of hair behind her ear then, shifting on the couch. Perhaps out of a sum of bashfulness, her eyes drift, not quite able to meet his.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I- it’s silly, but I guess I never considered that you could even </span><em><span class="s2">feel</span> </em> <span class="s1"> sensation through your gem,” she admits.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Really? But you’ve had a gem before. Well, shared</span> <span class="s1">a gem,” he corrects himself, though in the end it’s all semantics.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Well, sure, but when we’re Stevonnie, they don’t tend to think about stuff like that, because you’re used to it, and I’ve </span> <span class="s2">never</span> <span class="s1"> thought about it. It’s simply... normal for them, I guess.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hahah, yeah. It’s always been that way for me,” he says with a soft chuckle. “I never crawled like a normal kid, d’ya know? Dad says I always used to move around by scooting on my butt. When I tried crawling my gem would scrape against the floor, and apparently? I hated it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She laughs for real this time, </span> <em> <span class="s2">(with</span> </em> <span class="s1"> him, not at him), her voice ringing true and beautiful and clear like a bell. His heart swells with joy.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And then...</span>
</p><p class="p2">Connie’s lithe fingers reach towards his midsection, hesitantly at first, before— in careful consideration of boundaries— pausing in their voyage entirely.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes lock with his, her shy expression wholly giving up the chase on what her request will be before she ever shifts her tongue to ask in words. “Is it okay if-?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Always,” he says, gently leading her hand under the hem of his shirt and towards the gemstone at his core.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He can’t help his sharp inhale when he feels her fingertips dance across his facets once more. Even when he knows what’s coming, knows to expect this contact, it’s funny. Not funny in a ‘haha’ way, funny in an ‘I’m not used to this’ way. After all, he’s never exactly made a habit of touching his own gem beyond periodic cleaning, and (almost) no one else has ever had a purpose to. It’s for this reason that a small traumatized segment of his mind still can’t help but spiral in panic about the mere concept of any external being brushing against this treasure, this tangible half of his very essence. Given the nightmares he’s been through, he’d have every right to deny her touch. But with Connie... beyond everything else, allowing her in this way is the greatest show of vulnerability he knows how to give.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s his proof to her that in this moment, he trusts her implicitly, without question.</span>
</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">Gracefully, she traces her finger around the edge of his gem, lines each individual facet in turn. It’s ticklish at first, much like before, but as she grows more confident in her gentle exploration he finds himself relaxing under her touch. He feels warm, a faint buzz of content flooding his system through his hard light veins. With her, he feels </span> <em> <span class="s2">safe.</span> </em></p><p class="p2">“It really is beautiful, you know that?” she says, a peaceful expression settling across her features. “Your gem.”</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">“Nah, </span> <em> <span class="s2">you’re</span> </em> <span class="s1"> beautiful...” he murmurs bashfully, cheeks flushing.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So are you,” she replies in swift measure, eyes soft with endless adoration.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His fluttering heart extends its gossamer wings and soars. If it weren’t for her nestled at his side, lithe fingers running across each facet in even measure, her tactile presence tethering him like an anchor to this present reality, he’s pretty sure he’d have floated halfway to the ceiling by now.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Daringly, his gaze locks with hers. He swears his heart’s beating its own drum solo within his chest, but this time it’s not because of fear, not at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s the feeling of freedom.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His fingers loop around a stray strand of hair that’s fallen in front of her eyes. That seems to happen a lot, he’s noticed. As delicate as he can manage, he hooks it back over her ear.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can I...?” he whispers, his warm breath brushing against her lips.</span>
</p><p class="p2">She replies in wordless affirmation, leaning forward to close the narrow gap between them. Hooded eyes drift shut. Her hand still rests on his gem as they finally move to cross that final barrier, that fuzzy, oft indistinguishable line drawn between childhood sweethearts and could-be couple, and kiss.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, attempt to, anyways.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To be fair, despite his schmaltzy roots, Steven only has movies and books to pull from as an example.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Their noses bump against each other’s at first. Both giggling, they tilt their heads to compensate and then mash their lips together, reveling in every ridiculous moment of their joint inexperience. It’s definitely sloppy, and he doesn’t have a clue where he’s supposed to put his hands or how long is too long, or how he’s supposed to move his mouth against hers, or— stars, did he even remember to brush his teeth this morning?? He sure hopes so— but because it’s with Connie all of that doesn’t matter. It’s perfect in every way.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“OoooOOOoo, looks like loverboy’s finally </span> <em> <span class="s2">gettin’ </span> </em> <span class="s1">some!”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He and Connie startle at the interruption, pulling apart from each other with equally flushed faces to match eyes with their surprise visitor.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s Amethyst, leaning against the kitchen table with a downright roguish smirk, probably thinking she’s the funniest Gem that’s ever emerged. Of course, who else would it be? (Though, which entrance did she come in from? When did she sneak past them? Were they really so involved with each other that they just... failed to notice??)</span>
</p><p class="p1"><em> <span class="s2">“Crude,” </span> </em> <span class="s1">he says, brows creased with faint annoyance.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In return, she cups her cheeks and serves him the most ridiculous, schmaltzy expression she can muster. “Sap!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Connie stifles a laugh at her exaggerated antics, but on his side he can’t help but be salty that her interruption yanked the two of them away from the blissful throes of blossoming teenage romance.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, get outta here, you,” he chimes back, and playfully tosses one of the couch’s pillow straight towards her face. “Shoo!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The quartz Gem catches it out of midair and grins, no stranger to tests of reflex these days. Adopting a fake posh voice, she fires back her retort. “Your wish is my command, Sir Sappington...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tucking the pillow under her arm, she turns on her heels and skips up and over the warp pad’s platform, stalking towards her room with a victorious air. She doesn’t even try to mask her lovingly teasing snickers as the door splits in two at her command and she crosses the barrier into the temple’s dimension warping interior. The last they hear from her before the passageway shuts is an overly triumphant ‘whoop.’ Steven can’t help but raise a scandalized brow at this. What, were the Gems hosting a </span> <em> <span class="s2">betting</span> </em> <span class="s1"> pool about him and Connie, or something?</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But thankfully, in time, the beach house grows peaceful again. They’re alone together, and together they’re content.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Geeze, sorry about that,” he says bashfully, scratching at the nape of his neck. “You know how Amethyst is, heh heh.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Connie smirks with loving, mischievous intent, comfortably cuddling up against his shoulder. “She’s kinda right, though...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“About?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">“You </span> <em> <span class="s2">can </span> </em> <span class="s1">be pretty sappy sometimes,” she says fondly, and tilts her head so she can smooch his cheek. “Just one of the many reasons I love you.”</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, given that I’ve <em>also</em> written a fic wherein Steven wakes up feeling a hand against his gem and has a panic attack, a word of explanation with my headcanons-</p><p>Ultimately, I imagine there’s a very stark difference between a trusted individual like Connie touching his gem when he’s fully alert and it’s just them, alone, safe... and him waking up and being groggy enough to not immediately realize who it is next to him.</p><p>In the end though, I just hope Steven would be able to reclaim a once-terrifying experience (someone else touching his gem) as something that is also able to be loving and comforting when it’s done with consent.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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